Summary

Finding Balance is a sensory border I’m designing for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival as part of the Blooming Borders category. It’s inspired by my mum’s experience of Acoustic Neuroma and also aims to raise awareness for the British Acoustic Neuroma Association (BANA). Any funds raised beyond the garden’s build costs will be donated to support their vital work.

Story

Finding Balance is a sensory border inspired by my mum’s experience of Acoustic Neuroma — a rare benign brain tumour that affects balance and hearing. The design translates disorientation, resilience and adaptation into planting, texture and movement, creating a calm space where visitors can pause, breathe and reconnect with nature.

When my mum — a passionate gardener — was diagnosed, it threw her, and all of us, off balance. Although the tumour is benign, she has faced significant sensory changes, fatigue and serious health challenges, including multiple surgeries and life-threatening complications. Recovery has not been a straight road, but one of daily adaptation, resilience and the search for a new equilibrium.

During her prolonged hospital stay, I decided I wanted to make a garden for her — holding onto the hope that one day she would be well enough to plant it with me. This garden is for her, but it is also for anyone navigating uncertainty, change or imbalance in their own lives. It’s a space shaped by lived experience, and an invitation to find a moment of balance in nature.

Thank you to the friends and family who have supported us so far, and to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and the British Acoustic Neuroma Association for their care and guidance throughout this journey.

Calcot Manor & Spa is the lead sponsor of Finding Balance, with generous support from BANA. Their sponsorship forms a significant part of the project, and any additional funds raised will go towards the remaining build costs. Any surplus funds will be donated by me personally to BANA, with Gift Aid claimed where eligible.

Please come and visit Finding Balance at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival from 7–11 May — I’d love to see you there.

You can find out more about the border at RHS Malvern

and my work at www.megandodd.com

Follow the progress of Finding Balance on Instagram at #megandoddstudio.

Thank you